Wanderlust

Category: POLITICS

  • Robert Mueller agrees to narrow scope of questions in bid to interview Donald Trump

    Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s lawyer, says that special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to avoid a “fishing” expedition by narrowing the subject of questions in an effort to get the president to

    Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s attorney, says special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to avoid a “fishing” expedition by narrowing the subject of questions in an effort to get the president to submit to an interview with the prosecutor.

    Mr. Giuliani also says he thinks fired FBI Director James B. Comey is “not going to be worth anything as a witness” and thus less a threat to the president.

    Mr. Giuliani told The Washington Times that Mr. Mueller’s team displayed a good-faith effort during a Wednesday meeting that might result in an interview in July and a final Mueller report by Labor Day.

    SEE ALSO: Robert Mueller files unredacted copy of Russia investigation memo in Manafort case

    “He’s eliminated a lot of subjects that would have indicated he was fishing,” Mr. Giuliani told The Times on Thursday. “He’s eliminated those, and he’s into a much more relevant area where we know the answers and we know the answers really can’t be effectively contradicted.”

    He declined to specify what topics have been dropped.

    He has contended from the start that there is no evidence of Trump collusion in Russian election interference. The other two major topics: whether the president somehow obstructed justice in the firing of Mr. Comey, a Mueller friend, and whether he might commit perjury in answering questions under oath.

    SEE ALSO: Giuliani eviscerates Comey, says ex-FBI boss won’t be ‘worth anything’ as witness

    Mr. Giuliani is a longtime Trump friend who was brought in to try to bring an end to Mr. Mueller’s inquiry. He said a final agreement on testifying would include the subjects; an exchange of questions and any Trump objections; a place and time; and a schedule for a final report.

    “What I’m telling you, none has been agreed to,” he said, putting the chance of an interview at 50-50. He said he could agree to a two- to three-hour interview.

    On perjury, the issue would be Mr. Comey’s word in contemporaneous memos he wrote of discussions with the president versus Mr. Trump’s recollection.

    Mr. Comey leaked his memos to the press with the express purpose of prompting the appointment of a special counsel. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein complied.

    Mr. Comey said Mr. Trump urged him to end an investigation into retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, his brief national security adviser. Mr. Trump said he did not.

    Mr. Giuliani said Mr. Comey has revealed himself to be a leaker of confidential material.

    He also believes Mr. Comey’s credibility will be damaged by an upcoming report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on how the director handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

    “We don’t have a problem with him under oath,” Mr. Giuliani said. “What we have a problem is they’re using somebody else as the arbiter of truth, like Comey. We think when Horowitz gets finished with him he’s not going to be worth anything as a witness.”

    Mr. Giuliani said he wants Mr. Mueller to “show a realistic attitude toward the guy I think was going to be their chief witness, Comey, who is falling apart in front of us.”

    Asked whether Mr. Mueller’s team believes they have evidence of collusion, Mr. Giuliani said, “Actually, when you press them really hard, they say they can put this together and that together. But do they have any hard evidence of it? Do they have evidence that could be sustained in some kind of a proceeding? No.”

    Asked about Mr. Mueller’s strategy, Mr. Giuliani said:

    “I think they are relying more on obstruction and they wish perjury from their point of view than they are on collusion with the Russians. I think every time they’ve gone up the collusion alley it’s gone nowhere. That becomes the biggest obstacle to our testifying. Why are we going to get them to use the president’s word against himself? He’s already given all the explanations that they need to make a decision in his public comments. His comments under oath are not going to be materially different than this public comments. And if they would be we would tell them that. ‘On further reflection, he remembers this and that.’ So far, there haven’t been too many further reflections.”

    Mr. Giuliani said the Mueller team understands that Mr. Trump could not sit for questioning before the proposed summit with North Korea on June 12.

    “Of course Mueller agrees with that,” he said. “I think he’s anxious to wrap up because he’s become a bit of a target now. He realized he would get nowhere if he tried to do it now. We couldn’t prepare. He couldn’t force him if he went to court. It might jeopardize his ability to question him at all.”

    Mr. Giuliani previously said one agreement he procured is that Mr. Mueller agrees he cannot legally indict the president.

  • Donald Trump stands by calling MS-13 ‘animals’

    President Trump said Friday that he was referring to MS-13 gang members as “animals” and not illegal immigrants as a whole in comments he made earlier this week.

    President Trump said Friday that he was referring to MS-13 gang members as “animals” and not illegal immigrants as a whole in comments he made earlier this week.

    “Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, ‘Animals.’ Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories. I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as ‘Animals,’ a big difference – and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!” Mr. Trumptweeted.

    The comments were in response to a sheriff who mentioned MS-13 to which the president responded, “These aren’t people, these are animals.”

    Democrats quickly jumped on the remarks with immigration groups calling Mr. Trump a “racist.”

    Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, “Animals.” Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories. I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as “Animals,” a big difference – and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!

    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018

  • Rand Paul: Republicans are for a balanced budget ‘in the abstract’

    Sen. Rand Paul said Friday that part of the reason he forced a vote on his proposal to balance the budget was to show who among Republicans actually supports fiscal responsibility.

    Sen. Rand Paul said Friday that part of the reason he forced a vote on his proposal to balance the budget was to show who among Republicans actually supports fiscal responsibility.

    “Republicans are, in the abstract, for balanced budgets. But as you saw yesterday, the majority of the Republican senators are really not for the balanced budget. They’re only for it in the abstract,” Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, said on Fox Business.

    He said the growing debt is becoming a national security concern and added that being in debt to countries like China makes the U.S. dependent.

    “We also need to be concerned that they have a trillion of our debt. And my concern with security is that we need to be not so dependent on countries that hold so much of our debt,” Mr. Paul explained.

    The senator said the solution for this pending crisis is to have less debt, which is also why he put forward the proposal to cut spending. An overwhelming majority of the Senate voted against the measure.

  • Kirsten Gillibrand: New abortion restriction should ‘enrage’ the public

    Sen. Kristen Gillibrand said Friday that President Trump’s proposal to restrict family planning groups from providing abortions in the same establishments as federally funded grants is an attack on wo

    Sen. Kristen Gillibrand said Friday that President Trump’s proposal to restrict family planning groups from providing abortions in the same establishments as federally funded grants is an attack on women’s rights.

    “I think this is an issue that should enrage the American public, particularly women, because it’s an attack on them,” Ms. Gillibrand, New York Democrat, said on CNN.

    The administration is expected to introduce the proposal on Friday. The Hyde Amendment currently prohibits groups like Planned Parenthood from using federal funds for abortions. These groups currently use federal funds for other health services and use private funds for abortions, but do not always have separate facilities for each service, which the new proposal would require. 

    “It’s really important that this is something we fight,” Ms. Gillibrand said, adding that this is an issue that will drive people to the ballot box.

  • President Trump calls reports of FBI informant on campaign ‘biggest political scandal’

    President Trump tweeted Friday that there was a report that an FBI informant was placed on his campaign.

    President Trump tweeted Friday that there was a report that an FBI informant was placed on his campaign.

    “Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a “hot” Fake News story. If true – all time biggest political scandal!” Mr. Trumptweeted.

    Mr. Giuliani addressed the New York Times report that there was a government informant that met with Trump campaign representatives Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. The former New York mayor said neither he nor the president knew for sure if there was an informant.

    “Here’s the issue that I really feel strongly about with this informant, if there is one. First of all, I don’t know for sure, nor does the president, if there really was. We’re told that,” he said on CNN earlier on Friday.

    He said the Times report correlates with what Mr. Trump’s legal team has been told off the record, but he added he’s still not sure if those reports are accurate.

  • House votes down $868 billion farm bill

    The House on Friday voted down Republicans’ $868 billion farm bill, dealing GOP leaders a notable defeat after negotiations over a separate immigration issue hit an impasse.

    The House on Friday voted down Republicans’ $868 billion farm bill, dealing GOP leaders a notable defeat after negotiations over a separate immigration issue hit an impasse.

    Conservative Republicans said they couldn’t support the bill without assurances they’d get a speedy vote on an enforcement-heavy immigration bill as well. When leaders were unable to meet their demands, a number of the conservatives, plus some moderates, voted against the farm bill, joining Democrats to defeat the measure, 213-198.

    It marked a significant blow to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, who’d made several personal pitches for the legislation as part of his pro-work, anti-poverty agenda.

    Mr. Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise feverishly worked the chamber floor Friday morning hoping to salvage a victory, to no avail.

    Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway described the vote as a “setback.”

    “We may be down, but we are not out,” said Mr. Conaway, Texas Republican. “We will deliver a strong, new farm bill on time as the president of the United States has called on us to do. Our nation’s farmers and ranchers and rural America deserve nothing less.”

    Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said GOP leaders took a gamble and lost, but that he’s ready to move onto immigration and then get back to the farm bill.

    “They rolled the dice,” said Mr. Perry, one of 30 Republican “no” votes on the bill. “Look, I get it. I don’t begrudge them that, but these are the pitfalls with rolling the dice.”

    After the bill’s defeat, Mr. Ryan entered a motion that could allow for a do-over vote later, though it’s not clear when that would happen or whether he will be able to strike a deal that wins over conservatives.

    Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, which was pushing for the immigration vote, said he hopes to continue negotiations on immigration going forward.

    “Anytime a bill goes down, I don’t know that you could look at it necessarily as successful,” said Mr. Meadows, North Carolina Republican. “As much as it is, it’s where we are right now and hopefully we’ll get a farm bill in the very near future.”

    The conservatives want to see the House take up a bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Goodlatte, which would crack down on sanctuary cities, speed up deportations, and extend the Obama-era DACA program with no special pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrant “Dreamers” brought into the country as children.

    Those negotiations were taking place amid the backdrop of a petition drive from moderate Republicans and Democrats to pass a bill with more generous protections for the Dreamers, but without the enforcement provisions favored by conservatives and President Trump.

    Republican leaders said they wanted to give conservatives a vote on the Goodlatte bill, even though it would likely fail, but that they wanted to press forward first on the farm bill, which is a top priority for Mr. Ryan.

    Still, not all of the Republican opposition came from hardline conservatives.

    Rep. Leonard Lance, New Jersey Republican, called the bill “fiscally irresponsible” and said it didn’t do enough to help local farmers.

    “A more fiscally responsible farm bill with stronger and fairer reforms would have earned my support,” Mr. Lance said.

    The farm bill would reauthorize federal crop subsidies, agricultural supports and government food programs through 2023. The current bill is due to expire at the end of September, giving lawmakers time to regroup and try again.

    The farm bill typically unites a broad swath of Congress, but Republicans ended up having to negotiate with their own members after Democrats pledged to oppose the bill over new work requirements for food stamp recipients.

    No Democrats voted for the bill.

    “Republicans wrote a cruel, destructive farm bill that abandoned farmers and producers amid plummeting farm prices and the self-inflicted damage of President Trump’s trade brinkmanship,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

    Mrs. Pelosi said Republicans should now come to the table and negotiate “in good faith” with Democrats.

  • Gay man wants to challenge clerk who denied marriage license

    A gay man in Kentucky wants to run against the county clerk who denied him a marriage license in 2015.

    MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) — A gay man in Kentucky wants to run against the county clerk who denied him a marriage license in 2015.

    But before David Ermold can face Kim Davis at the ballot box, he must first survive a four-person Democratic primary on Tuesday. Ermold has raised more than $200,000 for a race that could require as few as 900 votes to win. Donations have poured in from more than 5,000 people in at least 48 states.

    The money has allowed Ermold to run a professional campaign in a race usually defined by yard signs and fish fries. But his candidacy remains a tough decision for some voters in Rowan County who worry it would revive the intense news media attention the area had to endure in 2015.

  • Democrats call for multi-agency investigation into Russian sanctions

    Three top Democratic senators have called for multi-agency inspectors general investigations into what they argue is a failure by the Trump administration to fully implement congressionally mandated s

    Three top Democratic senators have called for multi-agency inspectors general investigations into what they argue is a failure by the Trump administration to fully implement congressionally mandated sanctions against Russia.

    Last year Congress voted nearly unanimously to create the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in order to pressure President Trump to clamp down on Russia in response to Kremlin meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

    In a May 18 letter to the inspectors general of the State and Treasury Departments as well as the U.S. Intelligence Community, the three senators argue the Trump administration has sent mixed signals, or been inactive in implementing seven mandatory CAATSA provisions, despite evidence of sanctionable activity.

    “Several mandatory provisions of the law have not been implemented by the administration, despite strong evidence that actions taken by or on behalf of the Russian government are in violation of the CAATSA sanctions law and applicable executive orders codified by CAATSA,” Sen. Bob Menendez, New Jersey, Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio wrote on Friday.

    Mr. Menendez, Mr. Warner and Mr. Brown are the top Democrats on the Senate’s foreign relations, intelligence, and banking committees, respectively.

    CAATSA primarily targets Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors and those who do business with them. The senators also say the Trump White House has not followed through addressing related sanctions and penalties.

    “We also remain concerned that the administration has not formally determined whether individuals are conducting significant transactions with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors under Section 231 [part of CAATSA],” they wrote. “Without such determinations, it is impossible to ascertain whether individuals are substantially reducing significant transactions with these entities as outlined in the law.”

    The senators also argue the administration did not follow through last month with additional sanctions against Russia for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad despite Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, having announced new sanctions would be forthcoming.

    Senior Trump administration officials maintain they are pushing back harder on Russian President Vladimir Putin than the Obama administration, while Democrats say Mr. Trump has shown a reluctance to use the full force of CAATSA.

  • Trump proposes changes to Title X funding, targeting Planned Parenthood

    The Trump administration proposed rules Friday that create a firewall between federal funds for family planning and abortion services, effectively targeting Planned Parenthood.

    The Trump administration proposed rules Friday that create a firewall between federal funds for family planning and abortion services, effectively targeting Planned Parenthood.

    The Health and Human Services Department sent its proposed rule to the White House to kick-start the regulatory process, which could take months, without offering many details.

    Yet Capitol Hill lawmakers and advocates say the proposed rule change to Title X — a $260 million federal program for contraception and other services — revives a Reagan-era interpretation of the 1970 law that bars clinics from referring patients to abortion services.

    It also says clinics that perform abortions under the same roof as other family planning services should not receive Title X money. That means Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider and a frequent target for Republicans, would have to rearrange its operations or risk being carved out of the program.

    Federal funding cannot be used for abortion, though Title X grants assist low-income Americans in getting things such as birth control and other reproductive health services.

    Mr. Trump’s conservative base has railed against any public funding for Planned Parenthood, saying money is fungible, so taxpayers are propping up the abortion side of their business.

    The White House said Friday night that the move fulfills Mr. Trump’s promise “to continue to improve women’s health and ensure that federal funds are not used to fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.”

    “This important proposal would ensure compliance with the program’s existing statutory prohibition on funding programs in which abortion is a method of family planning,” the White House said. “The new proposed rule would not cut funds from the Title X program. Instead, it would ensure that taxpayers do not indirectly fund abortions.”

    Congressional Republicans cheered Mr. Trump’s proposal, saying it’s important to put keep taxpayers out of the abortion business.

    “There are plenty of health care providers, such as community and rural health centers, that provide the family planning needs of women and will be better stewards of the people’s tax dollars,” Rep. Robert B. Aderholt, Alabama Republican, said.

    From the other side, Planned Parenthood said the proposal “takes away people’s access to health care and infringes on women’s right to safe, legal abortion.”

    Its Democratic allies, meanwhile, called it a “gag rule” that will harm needy women and limit their health care choices.

    Planned Parenthood provides contraception services for an estimated 40 percent of the 4 million covered by Title X. Many of them don’t have a backup, Democrats say, so cutting it out of Title X will leave them in the lurch.

    “With this decision, President Trump is standing right between millions of American women and their doctors,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer.

    Pro-life groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List said there is no “gag rule” — the rule would still allow clinics to counsel women on abortion, just not require them to offer the counseling or refer them for the procedure.

    — Dave Boyer contributed to this report.

  • Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy following Facebook data scandal

    Cambridge Analytica LLC, the American branch of the embattled British-based data broker and political consultancy firm hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign, has filed for bankruptcy in th

    Cambridge Analytica LLC, the American branch of the embattled British-based data broker and political consultancy firm hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign, has filed for bankruptcy in the United States after coming under fire for collecting the personal information of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge.

    Along with a related company, SCL USA, Cambridge Analytica filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in federal court late Thursday, two months after news reports first revealed that the firm had quietly obtained the personal data of about 87 million Facebook users through a purported online personality quiz.

    Cambridge Analytica’s filing listed assets totally between $100,001 and $500,000, and debts ranging between $1 million and $10 million to dozens of different creditors, including Comcast, Verizon Wireless, the Federal Election Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, among others.

    “As one of multiple government investigators listed in the bankruptcy filing as a creditor (including the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Election Commission), the Senate Commerce Committee has an outstanding request for information from Cambridge Analytica,” a spokesman for Mr. Thune said in a statement.

    Cambridge Analytica has faced heightened scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and abroad after it was reported in March that the company had quietly amassed the personal information of millions of Facebook users through “ThisIsYourDigitalLife,” an online quiz developed by data scientist Aleksandr Kogan, and subsequently exploited that information during the course while conducting business for political clients.

    The Federal Trade Commission previously announced it was investigating Facebook’s privacy policies as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the U.K.’s data watchdog raided the firm’s London office in March as part of a probe concerning “the use of personal data and analytics by political campaigns, parties, social media companies and other commercial actors.”

    Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign paid Cambridge Analytica at least $5.9 million between July and December 2016, and the president’s former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, previously served as the firm’s vice president.

    Cambridge Analyrica’s filing was signed on behalf of the firm’s board by Rebekah and Jennifer Mercer, the daughters of Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager and major contributor to Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

    The firm initiated bankruptcy proceedings in the U.K. earlier this month, citing a loss of business blamed on recently media coverage.